World of Glass
by Fade to Black
Summary: In a world of fragile peace and broken promises, can anything be permanent? Two people find themselves in a situation neither has experienced before… (SpikeHiroki{Buzz} yaoi) R&R please! Chapter Three uploaded. rating up for lang.
1. Nightamare Scenario

World of Glass 

By: Fade to Black

Genre: Romance/drama

Rating: PG-13 

Disclaimers: All I own are Umi, Ki, Raven, and the plot. Plot? Is there a plot?

Summary: In a world of fragile peace and broken promises, can anything be permanent? Two people find themselves in a situation neither has experienced before…

Warning: Yaoi!!!!!!!!! Yaoi of the Hiroki/Spike kind; and language. Yay! Language. Durp!

Notes: Hiroki is known as Jake or Buzz in the English version of the game, Natsumi is Natalie, Charu is Casi (remember her? The green-haired chick from the original?), Hikaru (::sniggers:: What a femme name) is Jimmy, and Umi is… Umi is Umi.

Here is my piccy of Spike!  

Chapter One: Nightmare Scenario

"Welcome to the Tenth Annual Arena Battle," a computer-generated girl with green hair and amethyst eyes announced for the large crowd at the stadium. Charu was now the official commentator for the gladiator-like battles after the original had been killed during a particularly violent match. Standing in a corridor beneath the stadium seats, four teenagers waited to be introduced. The team members, three boys and a girl, all in their late teens, were contestants in the Tenth Arena Battle. Charu's digitalized voice had been announcing individual teams as the teenagers stood patiently, and now she shouted a familiar name,

"…Now introducing the Shinotaro Team!"

Following their cue, the group filed out to join the preceding teams in the arena center. Charu gestured a CG hand towards a boy with red and blonde spiked hair.

"Welcome a newcomer to our sport, Spike! He wields the plasma sword."

Spike stepped forward with some hesitance before drawing a hilt from his belt loop and igniting its plasma blade.

"We have another newbie, Hikaru! He will sport a more traditional weapon."

A boy with mahogany hair stepped forward, joining Spike in the ranks as he pulled a long metal pole from behind his back.

"Step forward Umi, she's a returning vet in the Arena Battles! You all know her Black Death Wings."

A girl with violet braided hair sprung forward towards the others as black feathered wings sprouted from her back in mid leap.

"Hiroki completes the Shinotaro team as their captain and another popular vet! Everyone knows he prefers the _shuriken._"

The final team member, a slim boy with long blue hair tied back in a ponytail casually walked over to join his team, pulling out several _shuriken_ in the process as the audience erupted into fanatic screams. The loudest applause came from the screaming fangirls.

Charu continued introducing teams and their members as the Shinotaro four moved to a more open space in the arena. Spike nervously kicked a pebble as he pondered what he had gotten himself into. Hiroki and Umi convinced him and his younger cousin, Hikaru, to give the gladiator-like Arena Battle a try; Hiroki said it would be fun, so naturally Spike agreed. He and Hiroki had similar ideas of what fun was. Now that he was here and processing the rules, however, that nagging feeling of doubt welled up inside of him. In Arena Battles, the rules are, put simply, survival of the fittest- the ones left standing conquer. Killing wasn't against the few existing rules, so generally the losers didn't live to drown in the humiliation. 

Spike glanced over at his younger cousin, who was fidgeting nervously, shifting from one foot to the other. Judging by his restlessness, the youngest team member was nervous too. Determined not to let his cousin see his anxiety, Spike put on a calm surface; not letting his nerves break through his passive mask. He faced the world before, right? Why should this be any different? 

_Because these people are out for blood, you will be shown no mercy, and you have a choice, _came the answer in a nagging little voice in the back of his head. Spike shuddered involuntarily at the answer before a comforting warmth of someone's hand descended upon his left shoulder. The redhead glanced over at a pair of golden-yellow eyes staring intently at him.

"You okay, man?" Hiroki asked. Spike nodded. That was all he needed, was for his best friend to know he was nervous. To be perfectly honest, Spike was a little humiliated that Hiroki was the leader this time. Spike was used to being the first at everything, knowing Hiroki beat him to something made the blue-eyed boy feel inferior. Back to Hiroki, the aforementioned hadn't removed his hand from Spike's shoulder yet. Generally this wouldn't bother Spike, but for some reason- maybe nerves- the contact made him uncomfortable and he could feel heat creeping up his face.

"No prob," the red-head chuckled meekly.

"Let the Tenth Annual Arena Battle begin! All teams to the pit, the first teams competing will be Mikino and Kanokino," Charu's digital voice echoed.

Spike followed his team to the pit, knowing well this could be his end. No one was forcing him to fight, it was his choice. This was a sport, he could drop out- no one would stop him. That wasn't the issue, though; it was a matter of pride. His dignity was at stake and facing Hiroki knowing the blue-haired boy was braver in such scenarios was not a pleasant proposition. 

Spike seated himself between Hikaru and Umi, noting that his cousin had lost most of the colour in his face and Umi was trembling slightly- Spike smiled in spite of himself at this. Umi was a vet at this sport; as was Hiroki. He blue-haired boy certainly wasn't nervous and if he was, he was doing great at not showing it.

"Shushuku will be going on to Round Two. Will Shinotaro and Musune please enter the arena?"

Spike's heart was now racing, he could feel adrenaline pump through him as he tensed. He leaned over to Hikaru,

"What happened?"

Hikaru quirked an eyebrow curiously,

"Weren't you paying attention? We're the last two teams in round one."

Spike nodded, talking as little as possible due to the nauseous feeling in the pit of his stomach. Once in the center of the arena the teams faced each other and bowed, signifying the start of their match.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"The final round will begin in five minutes, both remaining teams are on deck."

Hiroki noted Spike's growing anxiety at the start of the tournament, so by this point he realized the red-head's nerves had reached their peak. For being total newbies Hikaru and Spike fought impressively, Hikaru nearly lost his second battle but pulled through after near-impossible odds. For the whole of the tournament up to this point, Spike fought on pure adrenaline- tapping into a reserve that Hiroki didn't even know the red-head possessed- but know even that was running low fast as Spike showed visible signs of fatigue taking over.

Spike plopped unceremoniously onto a bench in the pit, trying as best he could to sit up. Hiroki ventured over and sat beside his tired friend.

"A little different from saving the world from monkeys, huh?" the blue-haired boy asked jokingly- which Spike was in no apparent mood for.

"Up yours, Hiroki. You're making fun of me," the red-head shot back irritably after flipping the grinning boy next to him off. The gesture only amused Hiroki further.

"We've only got one round left; nothing you can't handle," he stated as he elbowed the perturbed red-head.

"Ha friggin' ha," was the only response.

"Shushuku and Shinotaro please report to the center of the arena. Everyone please be seated, the final round will begin in one minute," Charu broadcasted.

"The rules for the final round are the same as all of the others, this will decide the winners," the green-haired woman stated, "Bow to your opponents and we will begin."

The teams complied, all but the captain on the Shushuku team who merely nodded in an arrogant fashion. As the two teams headed for the pit- sans Hikaru and a team member from Shushuku- Hiroki made sure to trip the smug team captain.

There was a reason Shushuku made it to the final round, no team member was a pushover in the least. Hiroki had told Spike about Shushuku, they had fought in the Arena Battles ever since he and Umi had started fighting. Each year the team claimed the winners title, they were notorious for leaving no survivors.

Hikaru was learning the extent of one of the member's skill the hard way. Time after time, he would be thrown face-first into the ground, only to jump back up and charge blindly at his opponent.  The mahogany haired boy aimed several blows at the fighter before him with his pole- and made some damage of his own- only to have his trusted weapon snapped in two. Finally it seemed Hikaru had come to his end, when a light around him began to radiate. The Shushuku fighter charged in for the killing blow, only to be thrown back when in contact with Hikaru's strange light. The youngest Shinotaro member sprang to his feet effortlessly now and sent the Shushuku warrior towards the wall. Several seconds passed…five…eight...ten. 

"Match one-nine belongs to Hikaru of Shinotaro."

The light around Hikaru had now vanished, and the effects of his fight became evident. He staggered back towards the pit, bloodied and bruised, but looking extremely pleased with himself. He looked over at his cousin and grinned proudly as he received a thumbs-up from Spike.

"I honestly didn't know I had it in me," the younger one told his cousin as he sat down. 

Umi headed to the center of the arena now. The lavender-haired girl had Hiroki confusedly greatly; throughout the entire tournament she never used her wings once. It was highly uncharacteristic.

Umi faced another girl, one with short black hair highlighted red. The young woman's eyes glowed an unnatural red, Hiroki remembered this particular fighter. Her name was Raven Scarlett, aside from the team captain who held a vendetta against Hiroki- his name was Ki- Raven was Shushuku's most deadly team member. 

The battle began with Raven making the first offensive. Half of the match passed by as Hiroki watched intently, wondering when his cousin would incorporate her Black Wings. At last, Raven had invoked Umi's fury by tangling the ebony-eyed girl in a vine-like structure. Umi struggled against the bonds, until finally they snapped as she screamed in rage. Her wings once again sprouted from her back and she took flight. Raven grinned maliciously at her new challenge and demonstrated a skill previously unseen as she levitated above the ground. The violet-haired young woman gave Raven no chance to act as her wings spread wide and a pure black shadow of Umi herself raced towards Raven and ran her through. 

The dark-haired girl fell, Charu began the ten count.

"Another victory for Shinotaro, Umi is the victor of match two-nine."

The braided girl strode back to the pit and took her seat. Hiroki reached across Hikaru to give Umi a high five.

"The next match will be Spike versus Ki. Please enter the arena."

Hiroki and Umi exchanged infuriated glances.

"That's bullshit Charu! He can't fight Ki!" Hiroki protested.

The digitalized girl glanced over at the defiant Hiroki.

"I do not decide the opponents, I merely announce them."

"Charu, Spike doesn't know what to expect with Ki!" Umi argued. Both protesting teenagers were met by a cold CGI stare.

"Nothing you say will change the match. The judges have decided."

With that being settled, Spike walked to the center of the arena to meet what would surely be his doom.

To be continued…

A/N: Guess what? Umi isn't a Mary-Sue! Isn't that great? She'll never be paired with Hiroki seeing as he's her cousin, and this is a Spike/Hiroki fic so she's not getting Spike. And Hikaru annoys her for the most part. I didn't have Natsumi as a fighter because that doesn't seem her cup of tea.


	2. Colder World Without You

Chapter two: Colder World Without You

Disclaimers: I still own Raven, Ki, Umi, and the (lack of a?) plot.

Summary: For Spike, this battle could mean the death of him… Nope, no real slash yet.

An unspeakable course of pain shot through Spike's body as he hit the stadium floor headfirst with a sickening crack. Ki loomed over the redhead's fallen form with an expressionless stare. Spike struggled to get to his feet again, hearing the distant screams of protest from his teammates. The shouting seemed to help as he rose to his feet with a contorted look of pain, coughing and sputtering the whole time. His head was ringing, his vision blurry, and an agonizing pain tore at his side; but he resumed his stance much to the amusement of Ki. 

Spike's face was a bloody mess. His plasma sword was lying several feet away from him, and Ki was directly blocking the red-head from his weapon. Spike yelled in frustration, the sorry jackass was in the way, and the red-head was no longer in the mood to play around. He was tired, angry, and not to mention in terrible pain.

"Move, damn you!" he yelled as he shoved Ki out of the way and dove for his weapon. The moment his hand gripped the powered-down hilt, Spike sprung up much to his body's protest. He flinched in pain as he activated the blade of his plasma sword.

Spike took a deep breath before charging toward the indifferent fighter before him, and swung the glowing blade with all his might. Ki was an experienced fighter, though, and such a stunt would not hinder him as he sidestepped Spike's enraged blow. The blue-eyed boy stumbled, and that moment of ill-grace was enough of an opportunity for Ki. The grey-eyed fighter moved too quickly for Spike to react, and he received several blows to the gut with the force a freight train.

The red-head doubled over in pain, he was finding breathing to be an impossible task at the moment; and the world spun dangerously fast around him. Ki wasn't content with simply knocking out Spike's breath, he stepped forward and grabbed the injured boy around the neck. In his eyes an emotion was betrayed, a manic glint came from the grey depths. The Shushuku captain tightened his grip around Spike's neck as he lifted the boy from the ground and left his feet dangling in the air. Spike's eyes widened as Ki's grip tightened still, and the grey-eyed boy's inhuman strength gave the red-head something even greater to panic about.

Spike struggled in vain to break Ki's hold, but it seemed nothing could pry loose his grasp. He was choking for air now, his head felt light and dizzy but at the same time ready to explode from the pressure. He kicked Ki in the chest. The blow didn't faze the warrior at all, but still Spike struggled in vain.

~*~*~*~*~

Hiroki watched with growing anxiety as Spike's situation progressed from bad to hopeless. Next to him, Umi bit her thumbnail nervously as she watched her teammate struggle. Hikaru looked like he was nearly in tears as he kept screaming for Spike to kick harder, but his cries fell upon deaf ears- Spike was too busy struggling for his life to listen to one scream out of many. Spike was thrown to the ground suddenly with a thud, landing in a limp heap. Hiroki looked away, trying to fight back the stinging in his eyes.

He never stopped to think about Spike's safety. He never considered that Spike could be killed. Hiroki must have thought his friend was indestructible to have never considered the worst of scenarios. But what would life be like without Spike?

Empty. Life would be empty. Hiroki didn't have much to live for as it was. He and Spike were always best friends, Hiroki honestly couldn't recall what life was like before he and Spike knew each other. It was that long ago that they met. Spike was always there, just a part of Hiroki's life that fit perfectly and seemed absurd to even question why he was there. He just was, that was all Hiroki needed, to just know he was there. The world would be a much colder place without the blue eyes he was so used to, he'd be lost…

He would be lost. 

~*~*~*~*~

Oxygen flooded back into Spike's lungs, he gasped; trying to take it in. He felt broken, weak. Spike was stubborn though, and even thought every breath felt like being stabbed in the chest he tried to pick himself up again. This time, however, it wasn't meant to be; and the boy collapsed as his eyes saw no more.

~*~*~*~*~

"SPIKE!!!!" Hiroki yelled in rage after his friend didn't rise nor move. Without wasting a second he sprang from the pit and raced to the side of his fallen teammate.

"Get up damn it!, Don't do this!" he screamed desperately. Finally, seeing that he would receive no response; Hiroki lightly slapped Spike's hand- following tournament rules- officially exchanging places. 

An emotion Hiroki never felt before began to possess him; it felt somewhat like anger, but drastically contorted with rage and hate. He stood up with a placid expression, his yellow eyes revealing his true mentality. Something about the glint of pure malice in Hiroki's eyes make Ki back slightly away. At that moment, immense black wings tore from Hiroki's back, and a black aura-like energy emanated around his tense form. Ki attempted to move in; a charged shot through his body, though, and he found himself immobile. Hiroki's hair bled to an ebony colour, every feeling of hate for Ki was weaving its way through the no black-haired boy. Static crackled in the air around him. The only thoughts existing in Hiroki's mind were thoughts saying to kill Ki, saying he killed Spike or Spike could die because of him. Either way, nothing would sway the enraged Hiroki from killing the young man before him.

In a burst of black energy, Hiroki released a shadowed figure resembling him at Ki. The shadow soared towards the stationary Shushuku warrior and hit him dead center on the chest. Still wearing a mask of indifference, Ki slumped to the ground. 

Hiroki's wings vanished, and the darkness that had spread over the arena now lifted as the Shinotaro fighter ran over to his fallen teammate. Umi called for a time-out and Charu agreed, it was only a ten minute intermission, though. The rest of the Shinotaro Team ran to the center of the ring, both with expression of great worry etched upon their faces. 

Hiroki pressed his fingers to Spike's wrist, searching desperately for any sign of a pulse. To his, and the other two's, relief there was a flutter of life working in Spike's veins.

"We forfeit the match Charu," Hiroki told the green-haired young woman when she came over their way. She merely nodded and relayed the news to the rest of the stadium and announced that the Shushuku team won their fifth consecutive tournament. Had the situation been different, such a preposterous idea would never have crossed Hiroki's mind. His mind was focused elsewhere, however, as he looked at Spike's pained expression. Hiroki wondered if he could face reality with the prospect of losing the one person that meant the most to him. 

~*~*~*~*~

A week had gone by, Spike remained the same, never improving, but never getting worse. As the had progressed, Hiroki had slipped further, and further into a depression; effectively bringing down the moods of everyone around him. Natsumi and the professor kept Spike at the Shinotaro Lab to try and stabilize his condition at first, and now they worked day and night trying to will him back to health. The red-head didn't respond to anything anyone said or did, aside from the steady pulse and other activity on the monitor; Spike was dead to the world.

To be continued in chapter 3…

A/N: Bwaha! I's evil. I suck at writing fighting sequences. For the heck of it, Spike, Hiroki, and Umi all live at the lab also. Hikaru is just staying there temporarily. Review please!!!!!!!!!!! I will be very very happy!


	3. Rainy Day

Chapter three: Rainy Day

Disclaimers: I still own Raven, Ki, Umi, and the (lack of a?) plot.

Summary: Hiroki's in a depression. Wow. Spike finds out an interesting secret of his friend's. Whatever could it be? Now we're getting somewhere.

Thunder crashed outside as the rain spattered mercilessly against the windowpane. Hiroki sat on his bed staring blankly out at the tempest that raged outside. This was the third time in the past week it had rained, and Hiroki was starting to think that some higher power was trying to tell him something. He flopped down on his bed, feeling in the lowest of depressions; the pouring rain on the other side not lightening his dark mood in the least. Just as he nearly drifted off to sleep, someone began knocking frantically at the door.

"Who's there?" he mumbled. A muffled voice from the other side said,

"Hikaru."

"Go away," was Hiroki's response. He didn't feel like dealing with anyone right now, especially someone who made him think of Spike.

"You have to come down! Spike's awake!" Hikaru practically squeaked. At this Hiroki bounded to the door and snatched it open.

"If you're lying, I swear I'll make you miserable," he growled. Hikaru shook his head quickly, then motioned for Hiroki to follow him. They raced down the stairs to a research room- now modified to be an infirmary- where Spike had been kept.

"Hey guys," Spike said softly as Hiroki and Hikaru walked in. He was sitting up, though just that task looked rather painful judging by his facial expression. Hiroki's face suddenly cracked into a grin and he rushed over to greet his recovering friend in a great hug. Hikaru plopped down on the end of Spike's bed, thoroughly relieved that his cousin finally woke up.

Spike, however, was trying to maintain a blush that started to creep up his face, as Hiroki still hadn't freed him.

"Umm… Hiroki… You can let go now," Spike mumbled, at which Hikaru laughed quietly in response to. Hiroki realized that he had held on to Spike entirely too long and released him quickly.

"Where'd Hikaru go?" Spike asked making Hiroki turn to face the spot where Hikaru sat only a moment ago to find the younger boy was nowhere in sight.

"I don't know," the blue-haired boy shrugged.

"Anyways… Who won?" Spike now inquired, giving Hiroki a moment to face him inquisitively before realizing what had been asked.

"We forfeited, Shushuku won," was the indifferent reply. The red-head's eyes widened in disbelief.

"You did what?!" he yelled and attempted to stand up in protest, but collapsed back onto his bed coughing, "How could you forfeit?"

"You're seriously asking that?" Hiroki asked incredulously, "You could have died."

"But I didn't. We won't forfeit the next tournament; no matter what happens to me" Spike stated.

Hiroki shook his head, "What if you're killed? Don't you ever think about these things? Do you ever think about what could've happened to you?!"

"But I'm still here! It doesn't matter what could've happened because it didn't!" the blue-eyed boy shot back as he sat up painfully, "It's my choice to make! I happened to like that tournament."

"Spike! Don't you get it? It's not just that you _could've_ died, but you _almost_ did! And not just that, how do you think we would have felt! How do you think _I_ would've felt?! I've known you since we were kids! I can't live a normal life with you dead! Why can't you think about these things?! Why can't you learn from the past?!" At this point, Hiroki was in full hysterics and had Spike not been more than willing to match wits at the moment, his friend's unnerving lack of composure would have had him slightly scared.

"That's the problem with you, Hiroki. _You_ never think as much into the future; you're always stuck on the 'what-if's'! You never think that things turned out the way they did for a reason, you think I'm just some lucky idiot who manages to cheat my way out of dying or being hurt! I _do_ think things over, but I don't let them consume me! I don't let past scrapes dictate how I live my life- or how I die! I just learn from mistakes, they make me stronger!" 

Spike fell back onto his pillow, drained from his outburst. Hiroki just stared at his friend for what seemed like an eternity, until finally giving up.

"I'm sorry. I just don't want to lose my best friend; can't you imagine how much life would suck? I don't like thinking about it. I just wish you understood…" he trailed off. Spike quirked his eyebrow curiously,

"Understood what?"

Hiroki shook his head, "Nothing. It's none of your business."

"But you started saying something. I wanna know what the rest is," Spike said, "I hate when people do that. If you don't wanna tell me, you should've kept it to yourself."

"It's none of your business," the blue-haired boy repeated.

"Please?" his red-headed friend whined, "Tell me!"

"No!"

Spike suddenly grinned, "Fine then, keep your secrets, I'll find out eventually. I always do."

Hiroki instinctively thought of where he hid his journal. He had to make sure Spike wouldn't get it this time. The red-head's usual ploy of finding Hiroki's secrets was to exploit the all-knowing leather-bound notebook: a.k.a. Hiroki's Journal. If Hiroki had something he wanted to keep from Spike, it went in the journal, and was soon discovered; Spike didn't like secrets. Generally, Hiroki didn't care that Spike somehow located and read the notebook of doom, nothing within its worn-out pages would ever threaten the stability of their friendship. This time, however; the sacred information within must be guarded carefully; if Spike found it, Hiroki would certainly meet his end.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Three weeks had passed and Spike recovered nearly completely. He also did not forget to attempt a theft of Hiroki's journal any time possible. Because of these attempted lifts of the said notebook, Hiroki made very certain to safeguard it in his back pocket.

All was quiet through the Shinotaro laboratory that day as Hiroki lay on his stomach in the so-called living room while reading- more or less sleeping. So deep in sleep was he, that he didn't hear Spike tromp into the room. The redhead suddenly grinned; now was the perfect opportunity to snatch the damned book while Hiroki was dead asleep. He walked lightly over to his friend's sleeping form and carefully pulled the journal out from Hiroki's back pocket.

What Spike didn't notice once he sat down and opened the book, was that while removing it from Hiroki's pocket he had awoken his friend.

"Spike!!!" Hiroki yelled as he lunged for Spike. The redhead's eyes grew wide as he dodged the blue-haired boy's tackle. 

"No! You can't have it!" Spike protested. Hiroki lunged again and tackled Spike to the ground.

"Give it back!" he growled, reaching for it while Spike was keeping it out of reach. The redhead grinned evilly and tossed the journal to the other end of the room. Hiroki took a second to glare at the blue-eyed boy before going after the notebook with Spike following.

Hiroki grabbed the fallen book and hugged it tightly just as Spike came careening into his friend, knocking him over. Spike pinned Hiroki to the floor, trying all the while to pull the journal from the other's grasp.

As if on cue, Umi and Natsumi came in from the kitchen with the sight of Spike sitting on top of Hiroki to greet them. Umi was drinking from her glass as she came in, so when she failed at holding her laughter back the two boys were showered with cola. 

"Don't let us interrupt you," Natsumi managed to say between tears of laughter, both from the sight before her and because of Umi spewing her cola in laughter. The girls walked around them and headed up the stairs laughing still uncontrollably.

Noting Hiroki's distraction, Spike snatched the journal from Hiroki's relaxed grip and bolted upstairs. When he reached he and Hiroki's room, the redhead locked the door and climbed up to his bunk. 

Hiroki tore upstairs after Spike only to find that the door had been locked. He began pulling at the knob angrily then slammed his fist into it.

"Damnit Spike!" he yelled furiously, still unsuccessfully trying to take down the door. Spike ignored his friend's cursing on the other side as he flipped through the countless entries whose information he already knew. Finally, the most recent entry.

_July 22_

Spike's my best friend, right? He's always been there, I could always count on him. Then why does being around him now feel so different? I swear something's wrong with me… I might lose him now, I never should've talked him into competing in that fucking tournament. I had to be so damn stupid! He never even trained for it! If he dies, I'll never be able to live with myself. I won't. You see? That's my problem, I need him. I wouldn't be able to go on with life without him. 

_Now it comes down to it. I think I may be falling in love with my best friend._

BANG!!

The redhead nearly jumped out of his skin at the noise. He heard Hiroki's infuriated yelling,

 "Damnit Spike! Open the fuckin door!"

Spike stared at the door blankly, stunned at what the pages of the journal revealed. He glanced back down at the book and skimmed over the entry to make sure it was real, then closed the notebook with a sudden grin. He hopped off the top bunk and traveled to the other end of the room to unlock the door; which was nearly off its hinges thanks to Hiroki's angry attempts to break it down. 

Spike was met by his friend's severely irate face the moment he opened the door. Hiroki gave Spike a look that would surely kill a person twice, and snatched the journal from the redhead's hand. 

"Hey, Hiroki?" Spike started, but stopped short as his golden eyed friend glared at him with a look reminiscent only of the time when he was under Specter's power. The redhead swallowed hard and decided now was not the best time to speak.

"Shut up," Hiroki snapped, as he turned to stalk off he muttered under his breath, "I hate you."

Spike stood for a moment blinking stupidly, wondering what had just happened, before choosing to follow the livid boy.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Hiroki sat on the dock behind the lab watching the sun begin its descent toward the horizon. His boots were set beside him as he dipped his feet in the water. He felt the dock quaver slightly beneath him with the weight of approaching footsteps. Spike took a seat beside his subdued friend. He sat quietly for a few moments, not daring to move; just staring intently at the ripples Hiroki's feet made in the water. Spike dropped something next to Hiroki's leg.

"I didn't think you'd get so mad," Spike apologized as Hiroki picked his journal up and put it back in his pocket.

"It's not the first time I've taken you're book, and you've never gotten pissed about it before so…" the red-head continued, "I didn't think I was out of line. Anyways, I don't see what you were so worried about in it. Nothing I would make a stink about if I kept a diary-uh, journal."

Hiroki looked Spike in the face now.

"Did you even read last week's?" he asked. Spike nodded.

"The 22nd?" he asked again, and again Spike nodded; Hiroki breathed a sigh of relief, "I should've known you wouldn't ditch me over that. I think I big time insulted you friendship."

"I am a little peeved that you think so little of me," Spiked joked, "God, how shallow do you think I am?"

A few more moments of awkward silence then,

"Dammit," Spike cursed. He reached behind Hiroki's head and pulled the other boy into a quick kiss. The feeling lasted several minutes after as Hiroki looked at Spike with a puzzled expression.

"HEY YOU TWO!! THE PROFESSOR'S ORDERING TAKEOUT!! COME IN IF YOU WANT SOMETHING!!" Natsumi bellowed from the backdoor of the lab; almost completely ruining the moment. Spike stood up and headed back to the lab; after all true love was nothing next to a growling stomach.

To be continued in Chapter four…

A/N: Hiroki has some serious issues, ya? I had to put that closing in, really I did. I had to ruin the happy moment.


End file.
